Courts - Massachusetts Jury awards employee $1.5M for retaliation Verdict comes one year after U.S. Supreme Court victory

By Kimberly Atkins The Daily Record Newswire BOSTON, MA -- One day short of one year after the U.S. Supreme Court allowed an employee who claimed she was fired for participating in another employee's harassment investigation to bring a retaliation claim, a federal jury has awarded her $1.5 million. "If not for our Supreme Court, we would not have had any sort of claim," said Ann Steiner, trial attorney for plaintiff Vicky Crawford. "Not only my client, but lots of other employees [in] whistleblower cases and other kinds of discrimination cases will be protected by that ruling. The Supreme Court did an excellent job of protecting employees' civil rights." Defining 'opposition' Crawford had worked for 30 years as a payroll coordinator in the Nashville, Tenn. school district. She was interviewed as part of an internal investigation into sexual harassment allegations made by another worker against the director of employee relations. According to her testimony, in her interview Crawford described incidents of harassment by the director against her and other employees, including an incident in which the director pulled Crawford's head to his crotch. The director was ultimately reprimanded but not terminated, witnesses at trial testified. Crawford was subsequently placed on administrative leave and then fired over allegations of embezzlement. She filed suit under Title VII, claiming she was terminated in retaliation for participating in the harassment inquiry. A federal district court granted summary judgment for the municipality. The 6th Circuit affirmed, ruling that Crawford could not prove retaliation. It concluded that she did not "participate" in an "investigation, proceeding or hearing" under Title VII because the internal inquiry did not involve an EEOC charge. Further, it held that she had not "opposed" an unlawful employment practice because she did not make a complaint, but merely answered questions. But the Supreme Court granted Crawford's request for certiorari and reversed the 6th Circuit, holding that employee "opposition" to discrimination can take many forms, including answering questions. Supreme foreboding When the case was argued before the Court in October 2008, Chief Justice John G. Roberts, Jr. noted that the city had a tough case to defend if it were forced to go to trial. "You're not going to win" at trial, Roberts said to Nashville Assistant Metropolitan Attorney Francis H. Young. "You're not going to win this case. You're going to settle if you lose up here, right?" "If I lose up here, first I've got two more shots at summary judgment, Your Honor," Young replied. But the city's second bid for summary judgment failed, and the case went to trial. Crawford testified that she has unable to get a job since 2003, resulting in the loss of her home and car. She also suffered damage to her professional reputation because city officials stated in the press she might have embezzled from the payroll department, although no embezzlement was proven. Defense witnesses testified that Crawford's job performance was once strong, but had slipped in later years. But employees called on Crawford's behalf testified that her work was solid, and that no evidence was ever found that she stole or mishandled funds. There were no settlement negotiations before the case went to the jury. In the end, jurors proved Chief Justice Roberts right. "If not for the United States Supreme Court, Vicki Crawford would have been shorted," Steiner stated. Defense attorney Kevin Klein did not return a call seeking comment. It is unclear whether the city will appeal the verdict. Published: Thu, Feb 11, 2010

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